DAY 48 : August 24/22 Wednesday. Quebec City to Beaupré - Mont Ste Anne QC

 DAY 48 : August 24/22 Wednesday. Quebec City to Beaupré, Mont Ste Anne QC

Woke up again in our lovely little parking lot in Bassin- Louise. We could hear our neighbours in the RV next door… little kids shouting very loudly and emphatically in French. When we opened the door, a little girl about 2.5 years old was stood there holding a Flexi-leash with a tiny Black and Tan daschund at the end of it. The dog ran over, tail wagging, to say hello and try to get into our RV. The dad came running over, but saw that we were happy to say hello. The dog’s name was Theo. He was adorable. As was the little girl. 

Kids had another pool noodle fight outside with official lines drawn in the gravel parking lot. After some breakfast, we hopped on our bikes in search the popcorn place we saw the first night. We were too tired last night to go out again after dinner. Back on our bikes in the same form as previous, we rode over to Petit-Champlain to Mary’s popcorn for some classic and some caramel popcorn. Ollie insisted he didn’t want any and chose some gelato instead (fraise et mango). 

Rode bikes back towards “home” and we stopped at the Oasis (the public “pool” situated in the St. Lawrence River so that Jonathan could have a swim. The kids were not interested, so Jonathan was the only one to hop in in his shorts and have a swim. Pretty neat. 

Got back sometime around 12:45pm, and the kids were a bit rangy. There was a strict “no horsing around with the noodles inside the rig or using them inappropriately” rule and the consequence was that a noodle would get cut in half.  Ollie had a pool noodle inside the rig and was resting his sister with it. I gave on warning, and he didn’t heed it. Hence, the his pool noodle was cut into two pieces. Ollie was remorseful and Meems was mad and upset at him. Fun times. 

Got packed up with two sullen kiddos, and drove over to the recommended Bosk Velo Cafe where Jonathan hoped to finally find a pair of Smith sunglasses he liked. The bike shop was so cool! Beautiful store with high end clothing, bike gear and some surf gear too. Friendly staff helped Jonathan find some Smith glasses and he ended up buying a pair of Ruckus he liked. We also got yummy coffees there while we shopped. Jonathan got some intel on the local mountain biking… Mont Ste Anne was a highlight. 

Drove past the beautiful Montmorency Falls… we are so spoiled for waterfalls on this trip and back home that we have been pickier about which ones to check out. Montmorency Falls looked pretty stunning even from the road as we drove by.

We looked up grocery stores “on route” and saw the there was a little Epicerie L’Ange Guardien not too far off the highway. Cute little neighbourhood store that looked like it would be too small for what we wanted, but low and behold it had a neat little fresh produce section where we could get lettuce and eggs, and we also bought a bottle of wine. The store owner was SO lovely to chat with and she was curious about our trip and adventures. Ollie had come inside with us and she gave him two little packets with an asian bun/treat in them for the road. They were her favourite as a kid. 

Got to Ville de Beaupré and drove up to Mont Ste Anne… a popular winter ski destination, and off season mountain biking spot. We got site D9 in the D’Uc sites backing onto a clear little river, and not far from the swimming “lake” that was a little pond with a slide in the middle and some sand and play structures along one edge. The river water was diverted into the lake and drained out the other end back into the river. 

Jonathan made some KD for lunch and while he was inside sorting the rest of lunch, the kids and I watched a cheeky little red squirrel scamper over to our site, hop up on the picnic table bench, then the table itself and hop across the still-warm camp stove and tip Jonathan’s beer can over before running off. He was about 2ft from me the whole time. 

We went for an exploratory bike ride back over the river and up to where I thought there should be laundry facilities. We could see a switchback where I guessed it was, but we took the road on the bikes and came across an AWESOME bike park! Ollie and Amelia enjoyed playing around riding the whups and Ollie practiced his drops. He’s finding the Ghost a much better fit than my old Mokomoko that Jonathan had rigged up for him with the 24” wheels. Nice to see him enjoying being on his bike again! He was rocking the drops and the step-ups. We carried on a bit further up the road and found a cross country ski chalet and inside was the wifi hub for the campground along with a small laundry room and washrooms. They were tucked into the ski “lunch room” area… tables all stacked on top of one another and it was dark and abandoned looking inside,  but the laundry room and washroom had lights on and were clean and functional!

We biked back to the rig, and Jonathan went into the pond with the kids for a chilly swim and slide while I rode back up on Oliver’s bike with the kite bag/backpack full of laundry and the laptop. I planned to wash clothes and try to upload some blog info on the wifi while I waited. I got there and was unloading the bag when I realized I forgot the laundry soap. DOH!. Jonathan rode up with it for me and did some computer work , got the android downloading Toy Story 4, and I decided to stay until I could switch the laundry into the dryer. He went back to hang with kids. At some point soon after, the heavens opened up and we had a huge thunder and lightening storm. It was kinda eery in the old ski lodge lunchroom in the semi-dark. Rain pelting down outside. Luckily by the time I got the clothes into the dryer and was ready to bike back, it had passed through. 

I rode back under a beautiful pink sky to find the kiddos busy at the table inventing wizard alphabets and languages and scrolls. The had enjoyed the cold lake and then they all showered in the RV since we had a water connection. Jonathan went back up to the chalet for wifi to sort out some stuff and try to post instagram pictures, then bring the dry laundry back down. 

Veggie Burgers for dinner, and Jonathan read the last pages of the C.S. Lewis book, The Dawn Treader, to them. I believe we’ve now finished all the books in the series. We picked up a Percy Jackson book to start, and we also have Anne of Green Gables with us to read at bedtime, too.